Deurty

One of my all time favorite bands is "The Cult." I have followed them since late high school. On Friday (day after giving thanks) I went to see them perform in Grand Rapids at the Orbit Room with some buddies from high school days. It was a great show and I even got to get shoved around a bit by an enormous drunk dude. I kept thinking..."blessed are the peacemakers" and so I tried to help bring some peace to a blossoming fight. So I helped a guy get out of an intimidating moment. I'm glad I didn't have to face the "turn the other cheek scenario." :) Anyways it was a great show and they played a great mix of old and new. Recharging experience and good to catch up with old friends! Owwwwww Yeah! sd

My dad and I are traveling alongside Dr. Sherrie to South Africa. We will be hooking up with "Vox United" and looking into potential ways Watermark can continue Jesus' work in His way in Johannesburg. I'll keep you posted... maybe. :) I think black Friday is a stain on Thanksgiving, sd

Hey y'all - I hope each of you have an amazing Thanksgiving wherever you are in the world. I'm thankful for the interactions we have from time to time. Tomorrow I join my family, some friends who are like family, and a bunch of folks without local family for a feast in the Central Wesleyan gym. It is a big event with lots of people and basketball. So I eat as much as I can and then burn it off immediately. Anyways - hoping your day is special. sd

Growing up I needed to "believe" all the right stuff about God, Jesus, the cross, etc... if I wanted to become a believer I needed to learn more about the right beliefs and defend them and get them straight. Learning the Apostle's Creed was helpful. But, for much of my life I have been a "believer" in Jesus, but I didn't believe Him (or in other words - I didn't share His beliefs.) So I was (in the words of my friend John): a radical unbeliever. I believed the "right stuff," but didn't share in the beliefs of Jesus and therefore, didn't do a lot of following... I had the beliefs, but the beliefs of Jesus did not have me. I do believe it is important to believe in Jesus as God's Son and to embrace the Apostle's Creed as truth to believe in, but if we stop there - we are missing out on sharing Jesus' beliefs and seeing our lives become what we were made for. Instead we stink of hypocrisy and the average Christian (I suppo...

What comes to mind when you see this image? The verse this man references is Mark 1:15 which is the words of Jesus we as a church are walking through at the moment in our "Kingdom" conversation. The verse says, "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" I am not into sign holding. First of all my arms get tired and secondly I don't believe it is effective. Someone may have statistics that show that after someone has seen a sign ten times they will join Jesus' movement, but I kinda doubt it. So, this brings me to the verse and the word written on this poster: "Repent." This week Sunday we are going to be looking at that word. Many of you may have heard that to "repent" means to turn around, to change direction, or to return. But as I've studied the past few weeks about this verse and this call from Jesus I have come to some surprising challenges - and they were direct...

I want my wife back. Countdown has begun. I better get working on the dishes, sd

Vicki is enjoying the warmth of Arizona while I am enjoying the warmth of my son's freshly wet diapers. Gross - sorry - I needed a picture. I am home daddy slice with the three little amigos. I hope to find time to work on my study and message in the evenings... But tonight is "the office" and that is really important to see. Vicki gave me a pack of Snickers before she left and I finished them in two days. Yikes! I drug myself with those suckers... The first step is to admit I have a problem... the second step is to get out there and buy another pack. This week we are beginning a new conversation series entitled, "The Kingdom." I have wanted to focus on this for the past couple years and now it is here and I desire for the Spirit of God to change us and therefore bless our community. I feel the weight of sharing the stories... I so want to be more kingdom focused and leave behind the most basic worldview I am baptized into... stuff like, "Get more, ...

1. Johnny Papelbon's try hard stare. 2. Josh Beckett's under-chin hair patch. 3. The Colorado Rockies being in the series. 4. The Detroit Tigers not being in the series. 5. Sweeps make the series a yawn-fest. I feel better after getting that off my chest. sd